The present invention relates to a procedure for searching a database (as hereinafter defined) having a search engine associated therewith. The invention is particularly directed to a method for Internet and intranet searching.
The practice of Internet and intranet searching is well known for both business and private use. Various methods are used to conduct these searches and these generally require a user to access the web-site of a chosen search engine, enter the search terms in the appropriate fields using the search engines"" specific syntax, and then visually to sort the frequently huge quantities of results that are returned. These traditional methods suffer from a requirement for an unnecessary amount of user input and steps. What is more they generate large amounts of uncontrolled, spurious and unrelated information along with the desired search results. These failings make traditional search engines both time consuming and hard to use therefore making it difficult to locate the information required.
When accessing a search web-site, or indeed the Internet in general, a user utilises a type of program called a browser, which acts as an interface with the Internet or other computer network. Common examples of such browsers include Microsoft(copyright) Internet Explorer(copyright) and Netscape Navigator(copyright).
An object of the present invention is to permit searching in a fashion more seamless to the a user. Such a searching procedure could be quicker but and have fewer steps actually to be performed by a user. In addition, a further preferred object is to ease the process of searching so as to limit the results to exclude the majority of, if not all, extraneous material.
According to the present invention there is provided a database searching procedure using a search engine associated with that database and comprising the steps of:
submitting a request string comprising a valid pointer to a specified search engine and a search string for specified data;
monitoring for the generation of an error signal, from the search engine;
using the error signal to trigger parsing of the request string into the pointer to the search engine and the search string to be searched by the search engine;
submitting the search string to the search engine; and
passing at least some of the returned data returned from the search engine, back to the user.
When the procedure according to the present invention is intended to search on the Internet, the pointer will generally comprise the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the chosen search engine. Therefore according to the present invention there is also provided a database searching procedure using a search engine associated with that database comprising the steps of:
submitting a request string comprising the URL of the search engine and a search string for specified data comprising at least one search term;
monitoring for the generation of an error signal from the search engine;
using the error signal to trigger parsing of the request string into the search engine""s URL and the search string;
submitting the search string to the search engine having the specified URL; and
passing at least some of the returned data returned from the search engine, back to the user.
As the present invention is primarily intended to search databases on the Internet, the searching procedure is preferably carried out by a program or programming steps running on computer apparatus. In such a situation, the request string may be submitted by a first computer with the database maintained on a second computer in communication with the first computer. The error signal may comprise an error code or message.
As used herein the term database refers to the data source from which the search engine retrieves data to be returned to the user. Such database could include, but is not limited to, conventional relational tables, lists of links or files, flat files etc. Similarly the term search engine as used herein includes any program or computer with a predominate searching functionality, not just a conventional Internet search system. For example the present invention could be used to search on an intranet for work files, and in such an instance the search engine could be a cross network searching program, and the database could be lists of files.
It is specified above that the search engine returns the request string to the user. The search engine may do this directly or may include web server software, which software is actually responsible for this task. The web server software may run on a separate but associated computer, or may be integrated with the searching software of the search engine, but the term search engine specified above is taken to include such web server software if present.
Preferably, this invention provides a procedure for searching that allows search criteria to be entered in the address or location field of an Internet or intranet browser (as hereinbefore described), as if it was a normal Internet or intranet address (or URL).
The programming steps may be performed on the first computer; or on the second computer; or on a third computer in the path of communication between the first and the second computers. If the programming steps are performed on the first computer they may be part of the browser software, or may be a separate program, working in co-operation therewith. If the procedure is performed by programming steps on the second computer, it could form part of the control mechanism of the search engine. If the procedure is performed by a third computer in the path of communication between the first and the second computers, such a computer could be a net server, the server of an Internet (or Independent) Service Provider (ISP), or perhaps a gateway or portal machine associated with the provider of the search engine, and through which the search engine is interrogated.
More than one search term may submitted as part of the search string. Logical operators, truncation and xe2x80x9cwild-cardxe2x80x9d characters and any other searching phraseology may also be incorporated in or with the search terms. In this way more complex or specific searches may be conducted.
Before the returned data is passed to the user, it is preferred that the data under goes some form of handling or processing. Such further handling or processing could included at least one of sorting, categorising, screening, filtering, forwarding etc.
For example a system running a method according to the present invention could be set to filter by date, so as to provide only relevant and up to date information. Alternatively it could be used to remove adult oriented material or redundant links. The possibilities for the range of filters that could be applied are almost endless and could be tailored for specific groups of customers such as businesses, government, children, adults etc.
When a user submits a search, the search string may be entered in a predetermined standardised format, as this allows ease of use (i.e. no need to carefully consult a instructional guide on every occasion) as well as permitting integration across a number of different search engines. Alternatively, the format may be specific to one or an group of search engines. Standardisation means that different search engines may be consulted with only the need to change the URL to that of the chosen engine. The syntax covering logical operators, truncation characters and xe2x80x9cwildcardsxe2x80x9d (a symbol that could represent anything) may also be standardised.
Preferably, the trapping and subsequent manipulation of the standard error message and handling of data returned from the search engine should be handled by a Common Gateway Interface (CGI) program or another open systems compliant practice. However, other non specified proprietary methods could be used.
It is highly preferable that the searching procedure according to the present invention operate between a user on a p.c. and a search engine web-site available via the Internet. In such an arrangement, the user would enter the request string in the address line of the browser being used. The browser would then attempt to access the page of the web-site specified by the request string, but as the page address is invalid overall, an error message is generated. This error message is then trapped either on its return to the user""s computer or at the location of the search engine (or indeed at an intermediate point). Trapping of the error message initiates the completion of the remaining procedure steps. Once completed the results are then displayed in the browser that the user is utilising. In this way, a user will need only to enter the request string and then await the return of the duly processed results. Consequently, the process of searching is significantly simplified from the point of view of the user.